Bollman Hat Company selects Mid Penn Bank creating a relationship of businesses each founded in 1868!
ADAMSTOWN, PA – Bollman Hat Company, a 100% employee-owned hat maker founded in 1868 has chosen Mid Penn Bank, who was also founded in 1868, as its primary lender and banking partner. Mid Penn and Bollman are both Pennsylvania-based companies who have continuously operated for 156 years and have had only seven CEOs in their history!
Bollman transitioned from family owned for over 100 years to employee-owned through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and is now 100% ESOP owned. Bollman is the second-oldest company in the world that is 100% ESOP owned and 19th oldest continuously operating, consumer product company in America. It is the second oldest continuously operating consumer product company in Pennsylvania. Bollman owns the world’s leading collection of headwear brands including Bailey, Helen Kaminski and Kangol and sells these brands worldwide through leading retailers and direct to consumers through hats.com and branded websites. Bollman continues to produce felt, straw and knit headwear in its historic Adamstown factory, which is America’s oldest hat factory. Bollman also produces private label headwear for the world’s leading fashion and outdoor brands, washes wool for the wool industry from its San Angelo, Texas scouring plant and performs commission wool dyeing in Adamstown.
Originally founded in 1868 as The Millersburg Trust Company in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, Mid Penn Bank has expanded over the years from a small community bank to a comprehensive financial services company operating in diverse markets across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mid Penn’s assets have grown to over $5 billion and Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc., the parent company of Mid Penn Bank, is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the symbol MPB. Mid Penn Financial Centers are in 19 counties across Pennsylvania and New Jersey offering a wide array of options for banking, financing, and planning to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Mid Penn provides personalized service to customers through consumer banking products, including secure checking and savings accounts, state-of-the-art mobile banking, mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, trust and investment services, credit cards, and more. Mid Penn’s recognitions include Newsweek’s Best Small Bank in PA, Top 200 Community Bank and Top 200 Midsize Bank in the nation by American Banker, Best Banks to Work For by American Banker Magazine, and Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania by Best Companies Group.
Bollman CEO, President and Chairman, Don Rongione remarked, “Mid Penn showed an immediate passion for and connection to our culture, heritage and future strategy. Their personal engagement from senior leadership with speed of decision making and approvals make them an impressive partner who will help us grow our company without cumbersome hurdles or excessive fees. We have a global marketplace and need a bank that understands this and can support it with a local, supportive feel. Mid Penn stood out from the other banks in getting this.”
“We are honored that Bollman Hat Company chose to partner with us for their financial needs,” Mid Penn Bank President and CEO Rory G. Ritrievi said. “The two companies share a similar history as well as vision of delivering exceptional products and services, and we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.”
About Bollman Hat Company:
Founded in 1868, Bollman Hat Company is employee-owned and is America’s oldest hat maker. Bollman has 240 employees located on four continents and distributes products in over seventy countries.
The Bollman Group provides the world with the headwear industry’s top brands that include Bailey®, Betmar®, Country Gentleman®, Helen Kaminski®, and KANGOL®. Bollman owns www.hats.com and serves consumers online through hats.com, baileyhats.com, helenkaminski.com and Kangol.com. Bollman’s employee-owners manufacture wool felt, fur felt, straw hats, and knit caps in its factory located in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, USA, which is America’s oldest hat factory. To learn more, visit www.bollmanhats.com
Media Contact: Ryann McDevitt – Executive Assistant to President & CEO – Tel: (717) 484-6249 – rmcdevitt@bollmanhats.com
About Mid Penn Bank
Mid Penn Bank, headquartered in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, has been serving the community since 1868. The Bank operates 49 retail locations throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and central New Jersey and has total assets of approximately $5 billion. Mid Penn offers a comprehensive portfolio of financial products and services to meet the banking needs of the communities it serves. To learn more, please visit www.midpennbank.com.